Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles vs Paperhangers: $56K vs $52K Median Pay

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles vs Paperhangers: what changes?

Consider Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles if you want to apply blocks, strips, or sheets of shock-absorbing, sound-deadening, or decorative coverings to floors. Consider Paperhangers if you would rather cover interior walls or ceilings of rooms with decorative wallpaper or fabric, or attach advertising posters on surfaces such as walls and billboards. Both list no formal educational credential; compare training and prior experience separately.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles and Paperhangers. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

Compare the practical differences

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

National median pay (2025): $56,460
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Sweep, scrape, sand, or chip dirt and irregularities to clean base surfaces, correcting imperfections that may show through the covering.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,200

Know before you choose

The work can involve real occupational hazards. Training, protective equipment, and routine safety discipline matter every day.

See the full Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles brief

Paperhangers

National median pay (2025): $52,140
Route into the job: No formal educational credential; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.
Work to investigate: Smooth strips or sections of paper with brushes or rollers to remove wrinkles and bubbles and to smooth joints.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 200

Know before you choose

This is a small national occupation (2,300 jobs in 2025), so location and employer concentration can matter more than the national median suggests.

See the full Paperhangers brief

How the national numbers differ

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on annual openings

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles is at 2,200 annual openings, compared with 200 annual openings for Paperhangers.

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on projected growth

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles is at 9% projected growth, compared with 4.3% projected growth for Paperhangers.

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on median pay

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles is at $56,460, compared with $52,140 for Paperhangers.

57.1/ 100

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

40.3/ 100

Paperhangers

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles vs Paperhangers

Dimension	Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles	Paperhangers
Median pay (2025)	$56,460	$52,140
Pay percentile	41.4 percentile	37.2 percentile
Projected growth (2025–2035)	9%	4.3%
Annual openings (2025–2035)	2,200	200
2025 employment	29,800	2,300
How you qualify	No formal educational credential; More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing	No formal educational credential; More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing
O*NET preparation group	Job Zone 2	Job Zone 2
Related work experience	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.	No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
On-the-job training	More than one month and up to 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.	More than 12 months of on-the-job training, in addition to any qualifying education or licensing.

The table reports national benchmarks and reviewed work descriptions. It does not rate personal suitability, job security, or physical safety.

Read Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles brief Read Paperhangers brief

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles vs Paperhangers: what changes?

The facts most likely to affect your decision

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles

Paperhangers

How the national numbers differ

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on annual openings

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on projected growth

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles has the edge on median pay

Floor Layers, Except Carpet, Wood, and Hard Tiles vs Paperhangers

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